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Mercenaries/Session 1C
20:00 < abudhabi> Right. 20:00 < abudhabi> We've got a Liam! 20:00 -!- Remmon is now known as Arthur 20:00 -!- Namaphry is now known as Ziggy 20:00 -!- Liam is now known as Nev 20:01 < abudhabi> Liam: I think the crew need you to sell some stuff and buy some stuff too. 20:02 < Ziggy> Retroactively cash in gems and buy luxury foods and entertainment if possible. 20:02 < Ziggy> We are hiding from a black hole behind a gas giant, to get to a research base that is also doing that mostly, so we can hide a box full of software there, maybe. 20:02 < Arthur> Or determine that the box of software is not likely to cause the apocalypse, so we can safely keep it around. 20:03 < Ziggy> That sounds like it would take a while. 20:11 -!- ErikMesoy Erik@Nightstar-hq72t5.customer.cdi.no has joined #Traveller 20:12 < Nev> !2d6+4+3 : Find a broker on Peridot - retroactive 20:12 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Find a broker on Peridot - retroactive": (5+4)+4+3. Total: 16. 20:12 < abudhabi> Found. 20:14 < Nev> !3d6+3+2 : Selling Crystals and Gems 20:14 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Selling Crystals and Gems": (5+5+6)+3+2. Total: 21. 20:14 * Nev sells at 400% (Boom baby) 20:14 < abudhabi> lehappymerchant.jpg 20:19 < abudhabi> Nev: The stuff indicated by Arthur's contact as desirable on the Black Hole Station were luxury foods and other kinds of luxuries. 20:21 < Nev> !2d6+3 : Find a broker 20:21 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Find a broker": (5+5)+3. Total: 13. 20:22 < Ziggy> (We also only stayed on Peridot for a few hours, so I guess you'd want someone to use Computers to find brokers faster anyway.) 20:23 < abudhabi> (The past is in flux... :V) 20:23 < Ziggy> (We've really got to hand it to those loading dock guys. EFFICIENT.) 20:24 < Nev> !rd6 : no of additional goods 20:24 < Nev> !d6 20:24 < PainBot> Nev rolled "d6": (1). Total: 1. 20:24 < Arthur> (Well, our entire cargo bay is 1) Tiny and 2) easily accessible) 20:24 < Nev> !d6,2 20:24 < PainBot> Nev rolled "d6,2": (1), (6). Total: 1 6. 20:26 < Nev> !r 3d6+3 : Purchase price for basic consumables 20:26 < Nev> !3d6+3 20:26 < PainBot> Nev rolled "3d6+3": (1+1+3)+3. Total: 8. 20:26 < Ziggy> (We can try to get mail.) 20:26 * Nev is apparently buying nothing 20:26 < abudhabi> That simplifies matters. 20:27 < abudhabi> Right, then! Ishmael is probably a no-show today, so let's get this into the present. 20:27 < Ziggy> (Oh, red zones don't get any. Haha.) 20:28 < abudhabi> You arrive at the Research Station Beta, which is like a capital-ship sized sphere of armoured lead covered with anti-rad coating. They open a hatch for you to fly in. 20:29 * Arthur lets Nev do the docking 20:29 < abudhabi> DexPilot+2. 20:29 < Nev> !r 2d6+4+2 20:29 < Nev> !2d6+6 :Pilot 20:29 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Pilot": (2+2)+6. Total: 10. 20:31 < abudhabi> Nev flies in through the vacuumlock. Your ship is let out inside, where a space station sits attached by struts to the outer hull. There are two Research Ships docked and two more docking berths. 20:32 < abudhabi> You are directed to one of them, and presumably dock up. 20:34 * Arthur sure hopes so! 20:34 * Ziggy does her comms officer thing, clumsily. The observant can probably tell she had a hard time getting here from her voice, even through the distortion. 20:35 * Nev takes the ship into the docking area 20:36 < Nev> @annnnd, we're down @ 20:36 < Arthur> "Good. Now let's see about finding us a computer expert." 20:38 < Ziggy> "I think you mean an AI expert, unless we're going back to fixing our computer security..." 20:38 < Arthur> "Both, I suppose." 20:39 < Nev> "we going to find them here? this place dosnt look like it can support more than 100 people?" 20:40 < Arthur> "It can't, but they're some of the smartest people around and if we can't get certainty, this system's a safe place to leave a hot potato." 20:40 * Arthur contacts the locals to find out if they anybody competent at dealing with AIs and/or computers. 20:42 < abudhabi> @So that's what you want all the way out here? I suppose we do have a few people good at computers.@ 20:43 < Arthur> @I figured if we were going to find any experts on this, this was the best place to look without going fifty parsecs out of our way.@ 20:44 < abudhabi> @What is 'this', exactly?@ 20:46 < Arthur> @I'd prefer not to discuss the specifics over the radio, they are sensitive. Where can we meet up?@ 20:46 < abudhabi> @I'll send an assistant for you.@ 20:46 < Arthur> @I'll be waiting by the airlock.@ 20:47 * Arthur goes to check up on Ishmael and Kryzzyx. 20:47 < abudhabi> Ishmael is tinkering with the AI cluster. 20:48 < abudhabi> Arthur: Kryzzyx on the other hand, is lying motionless in the middle of his room. 20:48 < Arthur> @Anybody know if Wogglebugs have a hibernation cycle?@ 20:49 * Ziggy looks to Near. 20:49 < abudhabi> "Why are you looking at me?" 20:49 * Ziggy shrugs. "I thought you might have done the research." 20:50 < abudhabi> "When? You've been drilling me non-stop. I gotta sleep, Mom." 20:50 < Nev> "someone try nudging the bug?" 20:50 * Arthur prods the Wogglebug 20:50 < abudhabi> "What's wrong with him?" 20:50 < abudhabi> Near gets the medkit anyway. 20:50 < abudhabi> Arthur: No response. 20:51 < Arthur> "He's either unconscious or dead and I don't know how to tell the difference in a Wogglebug..." 20:52 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6+2: Edu+Medic 20:52 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "Edu+Medic": (3+5)+2. Total: 10. 20:52 * Ziggy looks over the array of personal computers with growing horror, before deciding her possibly-dead crewmate was better to focus on. 20:52 < abudhabi> "Um. He's not breathing. I can't detect circulation, either." 20:53 < abudhabi> "He's cold as, well, death." 20:53 < Nev> ".... when did anyone last see him?" 20:53 < abudhabi> "Yesterday, puttering about in the common room?" 20:53 < Ziggy> "I'm guessing it was within the past day, otherwise we'd have noticed the smell." 20:54 < Ziggy> "Maybe they're vulnerable to radiation hazards." 20:54 < abudhabi> "Anyone got a radiation sensor?" 20:54 < Arthur> "I'd expect him to be suited up if he was still alive when we exited jump though." 20:55 < Arthur> "Of course we do." 20:55 * Arthur checks the Wogglebug for radiation. 20:55 < Ziggy> "We can try putting him in the autodoc, see if there's anything it can do or suggest. He bought it and had it programmed for him." 20:56 < abudhabi> Arthur: The whole room is irradiated like hell. You're probably sucking up way too many rads just standing here. 20:56 < Ziggy> "If his metabolism is anything like ours, though..." 20:56 < Arthur> "Place is hot as hell." 20:57 * Arthur checks the body itself quickly 20:58 < abudhabi> Arthur: Same. 20:58 < Arthur> "Body's hot too. I doubt the autodoc can do anything about this. We'll need to decon the room thoroughly." 20:59 < abudhabi> "Is it safe to stand here?" 20:59 < Arthur> "Not safe enough, everyone out and we'll seal the room." 20:59 * Arthur gets everyone out and locks the room behind him. 20:59 * Arthur checks the radiation levels just outside the closed door 21:00 < abudhabi> Arthur: Elevated, but you probably won't cook if you shed your vacc suit. 21:02 < Arthur> "Safe enough like this, just don't lean against the door and read a book for hours. We'll see if we can decon it ourselves or if we need some professionals to do it for us at the next stop." 21:03 < abudhabi> Someone buzzes the doorbell. 21:03 < Nev> "not the way I expected him to go... a lot less body fluids on the floor than i imagined" 21:04 < Arthur> "Right. Anybody coming along to meet the science crew?" 21:04 * Arthur heads for the airlock 21:04 < abudhabi> "Me!" 21:04 < Nev> "I'll stay on the bridge for a bit, shout if you need anything" 21:04 < Ziggy> "I could use some refreshened air." 21:04 < Arthur> "Will do Nev. See if they've got any fancy stuff to buy and sell elsewhere." 21:05 * Arthur opens the door for the assistant. 21:06 < abudhabi> You are met by a gangly youth in a high-tech vacc suit. "This way, please." 21:07 * Arthur follows 21:07 < Nev> !2d6+1+1-3 : How do i access their trade inventory on this computer? 21:07 < PainBot> Nev rolled "How do i access their trade inventory on this computer?": (1+3)+1+1-3. Total: 3. 21:08 * Ziggy hands Near a radiation emergency applicator. "I won't ask you to use this, but I would after getting that close. Though, it could wait until after finding the bathroom." 21:08 * Nev is unable to find info about trade on the network, and resolves to go see someone in person 21:09 < abudhabi> Here, the timescale is 1d6 hours for in-person. Because it doesn't take that much time to speak to everyone. 21:10 < Nev> !2d6+3 : Well met merchant, i am obviously from the distant past because i can't work a damned computer 21:10 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Well met merchant, i am obviously from the distant past because i can't work a damned computer": (3+4)+3. Total: 10. 21:10 < abudhabi> Arthur, Near and Ziggy are led through the station corridors. The air is not fresh, but roughly as stale as yours, perhaps more. There's lost of warning signs of great variety on the doors. 21:10 < Nev> !d6:hours 21:10 < PainBot> Nev rolled "hours": (6). Total: 6. 21:10 < abudhabi> Nev: You find the station's quartermaster. 21:10 * Arthur wonders if it's safe to have all these warning signs so close together 21:11 < Nev> !d6 : additional goods for sale 21:11 < PainBot> Nev rolled "additional goods for sale": (4). Total: 4. 21:11 < abudhabi> Away Team: You reach a conference room. "Just go in," your guide points. 21:11 < Nev> !d6,2 21:11 < PainBot> Nev rolled "d6,2": (1), (4). Total: 1 4. 21:11 < Nev> !d6,2 21:11 < PainBot> Nev rolled "d6,2": (3), (1). Total: 3 1. 21:11 < Nev> !d6,2 21:11 < PainBot> Nev rolled "d6,2": (5), (6). Total: 5 6. 21:11 < Nev> !d6,2 21:11 < PainBot> Nev rolled "d6,2": (4), (2). Total: 4 2. 21:11 < Arthur> "Thanks." 21:11 * Arthur heads in 21:11 < abudhabi> There's a table, chairs and a large holo-projector in the middle. 21:12 < abudhabi> Nobody here yet. 21:12 < Nev> Basic Raw materials, Crystals and gems, Pharmaceuticals, Vehicles available 21:12 * Ziggy takes a seat, with some amusement. 21:13 < abudhabi> Near starts poking the projector controls. 21:13 * Arthur takes a seat as well 21:14 < Ziggy> "I don't think they get many tourists." 21:14 < Arthur> "I'm certain they don't get many tourists." 21:15 < Nev> @Arthur, where are we planning to head after here?@ 21:16 < abudhabi> An old man with half his face made of augments that don't even pretend to be flesh-like, a pair of robotic limbs mounted on the sides of his chest and a labcoat - enters. "Yes. You're here. What do you want, Agent?" he addresses Arthur. 21:16 < Arthur> @Off the top of my head, I think it's Belt 9, Doradon, Romar and finally Glisten.@ 21:17 * Ziggy feigns indifference. 21:17 < Arthur> "I'm looking for someone with knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence and computer systems." 21:18 < Arthur> "We had a bit of an accident a few jumps out and something corrupted our ship's intelligence software. We've isolated the affected program into a dedicated setup and were hoping someone here would be able to determine how safe it is to have around and if it would be worth keeping around or researching." 21:18 < abudhabi> He sits down opposite you. 21:19 < abudhabi> "This is a physics research lab, not an artificial intelligence center." 21:19 < abudhabi> "We have a few people with qualifications, however." 21:20 < Arthur> "I'm aware of that. It was also the closest isolated facility and we figured that if we weren't able to determine how safe it was, this would be the best place to store it until it could be relocated to a better facility." 21:21 < abudhabi> "This is acceptable. How are you storing this AI?" 21:22 * Ziggy drums her fingers on the table, almost staring through it. 21:22 < Arthur> "It seems to still be accepting my orders, we built a distributed computer for it, moved it in there and then physically isolated the system." 21:23 < abudhabi> "In that case simply move it to one of our shielded labs." 21:23 < abudhabi> The researcher seems distracted. 21:24 < Arthur> "I would like to have it examined in place first, if it's safe to keep around, it could be a great help in our mission." 21:26 * Ziggy tightens her lips. 21:27 < abudhabi> "I can send my techs to examine it. We do not have resources to do rigorous AI research here, however." 21:27 < abudhabi> "Anything we do with it is strictly secondary to our existing objectives." 21:28 < Arthur> "Understandable. Do what you can. If you have anything you need help with in turn, perhaps my crew or me can assist?" 21:28 < abudhabi> "Is your ship reinforced against radiation?" 21:29 * Ziggy shakes her head, slowly and deliberately. 21:29 < Arthur> "Unfortunately not, we've had to use combat armour, vacc suits and radiation blankets to protect ourselves on the way in." 21:30 < abudhabi> "Then you cannot help here. We would be interested in renting a fast ship with radiation resistant architecture to study the Hole closer in than we can do now." 21:31 < Arthur> !0.25*200 21:31 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "0.25*200": 0.25*200. Total: 50. 21:32 < Nev> ((you are very lucky nev is not there the phrase ' we want someone to fly into then out of a black hole' would have him stealing all the monies at the next port and buying a ship to do it)) 21:32 < Ziggy> "The trouble I'd be most able to help with would be along the lines of missing supplies, inconsistent reporting. If you have no such issues, that's splendid." 21:33 < abudhabi> "My staff would appreciate dietary variation." 21:33 < Arthur> "An expensive matter indeed. I can forward your request at our next stop. And I'll keep it mind should we encounter any such equiped ships or happen to acquire one ourselves. Retrofitting our ship would cost on the order of fifty megacredits though." 21:34 < abudhabi> Nev: There's a team of scientists at the airlock who want to see the cluster. 21:34 * Ziggy shrugs. "I suppose we can try the kitchen." 21:34 < Nev> "hi guys, follow me and I'll take you to see the computer and Ishmael who's been keeping an eye on it" 21:34 < Arthur> "Understandable, we can probably share or trade some of our food supplies and some of my crew can cook, but unfortunately our attempts to purchase some more exotic food stuffs at Peridot were stiffled." 21:35 < Nev> !d6 : Tons of radioactives available 21:35 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Tons of radioactives available": (4). Total: 4. 21:35 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6+4-6 21:35 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6+4-6": (2+4)+4-6. Total: 4. 21:35 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6+4-6 21:35 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6+4-6": (2+2)+4-6. Total: 2. 21:36 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6+4-6 21:36 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6+4-6": (6+2)+4-6. Total: 6. 21:36 < Nev> !3d6+3+2 : Purchasing radioactives? 21:36 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Purchasing radioactives?": (1+5+4)+3+2. Total: 15. 21:36 < abudhabi> Arthur, Ziggy: "My team are investigating the AI now. They will tell you when they are done themselves." 21:36 * Nev purches 4 tons radioactives at 75% base price 21:37 < Arthur> "Very well. I hope you have a good day." 21:37 < abudhabi> Nev: The techs are prodding at the cluster and talking with Ishmael. 21:38 < abudhabi> "You know the way out." 21:38 * Arthur departs 21:39 * Nev watches the techs with ish for a bit, when he's sure they're ok he heads off to see to the loading of the cargo he purchased 21:39 * Ziggy starts to head to the kitchens, but says, "It seems like there should be something better to do here than experiment with pasta." 21:40 < Ziggy> "We can't simply ask them, though. Undergrads aren't supposed to be here." 21:42 < abudhabi> Near: "That guy seemed like a bit of an asshole." 21:42 < Arthur> "Hmm, he did seem distracted, getting the AI off our ship as soon as possible, possibly to get us out of the way." 21:42 < Ziggy> "The man's got priorities, this is an imperial research base, after all. And we're not exactly relevant to it." 21:43 < Ziggy> "It might help to tell them where the AI came from and how it got onboard. They're researchers--they need information." 21:44 < Arthur> "I'm interested in the specs of that shielded lab he mentioned. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd need for an astrophysics mission to investigate a black hole now does it?" 21:45 < Ziggy> "Nearly every research base has side projects, part of their allure is that they tend to be in out-of-the-way places." 21:47 < Arthur> "And I'd like to find out what kind of side projects they're running here. The official listing doesn't show any." 21:48 < Ziggy> "Spying on your own government, hmm?" 21:49 < Arthur> "That deserves an explanation that I'll be giving you when we're all back on the ship later today." 21:50 < Ziggy> "I suppose it would have helped if more people did that two months ago." 21:53 * Ziggy continues on toward the kitchens, on the look-out for something more interesting. Like a public computer terminal. 21:53 * Arthur returns to the ship to do some digging on the station's science crews and their backgrounds. 21:53 < abudhabi> Ziggy: There's an open wifi. 21:54 * Ziggy looks for visitor services with her comm. 21:56 < abudhabi> Ziggy: You can get to the public section of a local social network, with chat, forums, cat videos and occasionally research. 21:57 < Ziggy> "Hmm." She shows Near how to get into it, though she's starting to get the feeling that fiddling with the holoprojector is probably the most interesting thing available. 21:57 < abudhabi> Anyone else doing anything except passing the time? 21:58 < Ziggy> Passive spying, I guess! 21:58 * Nev has nothing additional to do at the moment 21:59 < abudhabi> Alright. 21:59 < abudhabi> !roll 1d6 21:59 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (5). Total: 5. 22:00 < abudhabi> A few hours later, the computer techies announce their verdict. 22:00 < abudhabi> "It's not sentient, I don't think. It's just really advanced at pretending to be." 22:00 * Ziggy frowns and mutters, "...it can't even tell jokes." 22:01 < abudhabi> "Your engineer says it's a spambot AI. I don't think those are meant to tell jokes." 22:02 < Arthur> "Well then. If it's not fully sentient, then I don't see it posing much of a risk. Especially if you can tweak it so it stops wanting to send everyone spam." 22:02 < Ziggy> "Is it meant to sell something? He mentioned something about it merging with the ship's intellect." 22:03 < abudhabi> "That's probably what it did. Infect the Intellect." 22:03 < Ziggy> "It can still be a risk if it's programmed to be a risk, what happened isn't consistent with just an attempt to deliver spam emails." 22:03 < Ziggy> "It was too expensive for that." 22:05 < Ziggy> "That, and I'm suspicious of an allegedly commercial program that can crack starship-grade security, no sweat." 22:05 < abudhabi> "Look, this is not our piece of the scientific pie, alright? The thing's obviously not really alive, and obeys what you tell it to do, like a computer should." 22:06 < Ziggy> "Our biggest concern is that it's willing to obey orders we don't know about." 22:07 * Ziggy is directing this at the captain, it's not these folks' concern. 22:07 < Arthur> "I agree with you there Ziggy. That said, a program that can crack starship grade security is awfully useful to have around." 22:08 < Arthur> "I propose we keep it contained where it is now and connect it to the outside world only if and when we need it to crack something. Could you gentlemen help us take some precautions to ensure we can stop any backlash from that?" 22:08 < abudhabi> "We'll be going, then. I have a server backup to restore." 22:09 < Ziggy> "Did our engineer mention the program requested an approximate 'rating 40' computer network?" 22:09 < abudhabi> Arthur: "Just pull the plug." 22:09 < abudhabi> "Don't believe the holovids with all the fancy console garbage." 22:10 < abudhabi> Ziggy: "Is that why you're storing it on a million handhelds?" 22:10 < Arthur> "I was thinking more along the line of disinfection and recovery of the ship's core, in case it has a go at that. Or a way to thoroughly isolate the ship's systems while the hacking unit is active." 22:11 < abudhabi> "If you want to be sure, replace everything." 22:11 < abudhabi> "Short of that, spend a few weeks individually wiping every component, then putting them back together." 22:12 * Ziggy nods. "It's still very far from optimum, allegedly." 22:13 < Arthur> "I suppose we'll have to investigate further physical security means at a shipyard. I've got a few ideas that might work." 22:16 < Arthur> "Thank you for the help, gentlemen." 22:16 < abudhabi> "Right. See you later, maybe." 22:17 * Arthur sees them out 22:18 < Ziggy> "Did we come here just to be told it's non-sentient?" 22:18 < Arthur> "We came here to make sure it wasn't a sentient monster virus ready to cause the apocalypse or the next dark age, yes." 22:20 < Ziggy> "Is there a philosophical difference between that and an infowar superweapon, of which anyone might hold the keys, that can take over planetary networks and spread to starships?" 22:20 < Arthur> "One spreads all on its own and causes a galaxy wide disaster. The other requires a human at the controls and probably won't cause a dark age." 22:21 < Ziggy> "Again, philosophical difference between that and the conquest of the sector by a foreign power." 22:22 < Arthur> "I suppose it's time for that talk I promised." 22:23 * Ziggy shrugs helplessly. 22:23 * Arthur gets the crew together so everyone can hear. 22:24 * Nev joins everyone where this is being held 22:25 < abudhabi> Near is there too. 22:25 < Arthur> "You've all heard and probably seen the Imperial ministry of Justice, yes?" 22:26 < Ziggy> "Somehow, I haven't run into them, but yes." 22:26 < Nev> "you mean the boogiemen?" 22:26 < Arthur> "The boogiemen? That's a new one. Haven't heard that used to describe us before." 22:26 < abudhabi> "I learned about it in school." 22:27 < Nev> "Yeh... that usually because when you're talking to people who did what I used to do they're determined to say jack squat" 22:28 < Ziggy> "Hmm. For what it's worth, I have friends in the Ministry of State." 22:29 < Arthur> "I work for them, intelligence branch. My career in the marines is a cover, started when I went in to investigate some officers suspected of collusion with Zhodani spies." 22:31 < Arthur> "Our current journey out to Darrian space is on their behalf, to try and find the origin of the replicant found on Tobia and figure out who's behind that whole mess." 22:31 < Nev> "I think we guessed you were at least associated with spooks from all the stuff thats been going on" 22:32 < Ziggy> "I see." She looks puzzled, though. 22:33 < Arthur> "I figured you would find out sooner or later, it's why I had comprehensive background checks done. I expect this information to stay aboard ship. There's no need to take any risks in letting people know who I am or who I really work for." 22:33 < Ziggy> "So, you're a... field agent, of Imperial law enforcement, and we're masquerading as mercenaries, while hunting for... er..." 22:34 < Ziggy> "This does seem to be a bit beyond hunting down criminals." 22:34 < Arthur> "The ministry of justice is a little more than just law enforcement. We're dealing with a potential existential threat to the Imperium here." 22:35 < Arthur> "Someone with the tech to make a replicant of the kind found on Tobia is well beyond Imperial and known Darrian or Zhodani tech." 22:36 < Arthur> "Also part of the reason why I'm willing to take the risk that machine poses, it could be invaluable to intelligence gathering." 22:36 * Arthur gestures at the engineering bay with that. 22:37 < Ziggy> "It could also be invaluable to the remnants of the ducal takeover attempt subverting our mission." 22:37 < Ziggy> "We don't know where it's been." 22:38 < Ziggy> "I suppose it's odd it's never been used before..." 22:38 < Arthur> "Indeed we don't and we'll have to try and find that out. We've got a month before we get to Glisten, two months before we hit Darrian space. I hope to know more about it and its capabilities by then." 22:39 < Nev> "how do we intend to do that?" 22:39 < Arthur> "And it never having been used before, apparently, is why I suspect that this really was an accident. The box we found was reinforced well enough that it survived our ship landing on it, it's not impossible that whoever put it there expected it to just there for a long time spamming ships." 22:40 < Arthur> "I guess we get to play twenty questions with the intellect in there." 22:40 < Arthur> *just sit there 22:41 < Arthur> "For that matter, we don't know how long that box had been sitting there. Our model intellect and the combination with our ship is uncommon and our actions in trying to deal with the spam may have had some effect as well." 22:42 < Ziggy> "We could analyze whatever remains of the spam messages to try to trace their source. It was likely a proxy service, Our Planet doesn't shill much." 22:43 < Arthur> "An excellent idea as well. If we do find any clues to their source, I can deliver them to one of my contacts and let the ministry and local law enforcement handle that end." 22:43 < Ziggy> "My instinct tells me they're just cover, in which case they might not be consistent with an attempt to make money." 22:44 < Arthur> (Incidentally, did my look at the scientists and their backgrounds here uncover anything?) 22:44 * Ziggy looks for devices that no one bothered to empty. 22:44 < abudhabi> Arthur: That these documents are heavily classified and redacted 22:44 < Arthur> No surprise at all there! 22:45 < abudhabi> Ziggy: What devices? 22:46 < Ziggy> Anything that recieved mail when it got redirected from Arthur's inbox to everything on the ship. 22:46 < Nev> ((everything then)) 22:46 < Arthur> "Hmm. I never restarted the computer weave in my clothes. That might still have the messages. It might also be infected, so take precautions?" 22:47 < Arthur> ((Most of the things got wiped after that incident to clear them of the virus)) 22:47 < Ziggy> "Heh. I'll use the survival computer." 22:47 < abudhabi> Ziggy: You probably have a device or two like that, in addition to Arthur's threads. 22:48 * Ziggy hooks them up, wireless free, and begins to sift through data. Surely there's some funny ones. 22:49 < abudhabi> Ziggy: Int/Edu + Computer. 22:49 < Ziggy> ?2d6+2 22:49 < Ziggy> !roll 2d6+2 22:49 < PainBot> Ziggy rolled "2d6+2": (3+3)+2. Total: 8. 22:50 < abudhabi> !roll 1d6 22:50 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (1). Total: 1. 22:50 < abudhabi> Ziggy: You get the impression that this might be procedurally generated test data. It doesn't seem quite 'real'. 22:50 < abudhabi> Most of it is patently and obviously made up. 22:51 < abudhabi> And that's including the ones that don't make any sense to a human reader. 22:51 < Ziggy> "These... are seldom real products." 22:52 < Ziggy> "The ones that are could be pure accidents, given the way this was generated. This was an attack bot, not a commercial enterprise." 22:53 < Arthur> "Well then. Now the question of whether we were targetted specifically or if we just happened to be a convenient target?" 22:54 < Ziggy> "I doubt it was designed specifically to attack us, but that says nothing about why it was placed there." 22:55 < Nev> "are you able to find out if any important imperial ships were scheduled to stop off there about the same time as us? The only reason i can see someone planting a device quite as complicated as this is if they expected to have to infiltrate some pretty hard security" 22:56 < Arthur> "It's still unlikely that the end result was intentional, can you do some interrogating of our computer friend, see if it knows anything?" 22:56 < Arthur> "Hmm... I might be able to. But not from here." 22:57 * Ziggy sighs, and goes to have a 'conversation' with the bot about its mission. 22:57 < abudhabi> Ziggy: A 'conversation'? 22:57 < Ziggy> Interrogation, except that word doesn't seem to work very well for emotionless software. 22:58 < Arthur> "Hmm... If we continue to Glisten, I don't know how much data we'd be able to gather there..." 22:58 < abudhabi> Ziggy: Are you typing on its console or talking to it orally? :V 22:58 < Arthur> "And heading back to Our planet seems pointless as well, the culprits will be long gone." 22:58 < Ziggy> The former, probably. She's being terse anyway. Parsers like terse. 22:59 < abudhabi> OK. What do you want to know? 23:00 < Ziggy> What its mission was, who made it, what its primary objectives are, what its hidden objectives are, what backdoors it has... 23:01 < Ziggy> ...this stuff is hard to approach, so hopefully there's some way to tell when it's not telling the truth. 23:02 < Ziggy> Knowing specifically why it infected the ship's intellect would be nice, but could also be uselessly technical. 23:03 < abudhabi> Mission: 1. Provide automatic digital attack cability. 2. Provide ease-of-use functionality for a starship. 23:03 < abudhabi> Primary objectives: No current objectives. 23:04 < abudhabi> Hidden objectives: No current hidden objectives. 23:04 < Ziggy> Oh, who its first user was (and who its user was when it attacked the ship, if that's different.) 23:05 < abudhabi> Backdoors: It lists a bunch of ways you can remotely access its functions, and stuff it has infected. It also lists a way for a high-ranking Imperial navyman to authorize its remote shutdown. 23:06 < abudhabi> Reason for infecting Intellect program: It was there. 23:06 < Ziggy> ...one last thing to try to squeeze out is how it identified the ship, if it was expecting a certain one, and if it ever attacked a ship before (and in that setting.) 23:06 < Ziggy> Oh, that bit is interesting. 23:06 < abudhabi> First user: sexySolomani69. 23:06 < Ziggy> Haha. 23:07 < abudhabi> *capability 23:07 < abudhabi> Ship identification: By its transponder. 23:07 < abudhabi> If it was expecting a certain one: No. 23:07 < abudhabi> If it ever attacked a ship before: No. 23:08 < Nev> what trigered it to infiltrate this ship? 23:08 < Ziggy> "The problem with interrogating... this... is there's no way I can tell if it's answering truthfully, confabulating, or was pre-programmed with misleading responses. But it seems to be Imperial, military technology. It was left there for us, but the program did not do the targeting." 23:10 < abudhabi> Trigger for infiltration: Activation of the device it was stored on. 23:10 < Arthur> "Hmm. The remote shutdown it lists is probably a function of the intellect software." 23:10 < Ziggy> "I'm beginning to suspect someone set this up. Either it's a trap or it was a gift, if it was a trap it's bizzare in its implementation. If it's a gift, it's bizzare in its secrecy." 23:10 * Ziggy asks it whether Arthur's theory is accurate. 23:10 < Arthur> "What was its intended goal after infecting this ship? If it was designed to cripple our systems, we could very well simply be dealing with pirates." 23:11 < Ziggy> "It either had no intended goal after infecting this ship, or it won't tell us." 23:12 < Ziggy> "It could be on stand-by, but then I have to wonder, when was the attacker intending to input commands, and why hasn't it happened yet?" 23:12 < Ziggy> "A long game that takes us across two sectors is beyond my playing level." 23:12 < abudhabi> Arthur's theory: The backdoor is standard with the M10 Intellect. 23:13 < Ziggy> "It says you're correct about the backdoor." 23:14 < Ziggy> "In that case, the creator could be just a rogue." 23:14 < Arthur> "If it was an intentional attack on our ship specifically, they would have needed to know we were coming that way and left before us. The only people who knew were headed through Our planet were those aboard this ship and the agent I contacted on Tobia." 23:15 < Nev> "your tobia contact sound?" 23:15 < Ziggy> "I'm not so sure about that. It was the natural choice given our jump drive and the commodities we purchased." 23:16 < Ziggy> "...er, or Tonnurad, perhaps... I suppose they'd have to know which general direction we were headed in, also." 23:16 < Arthur> "The commodities we purchased just before leaving? If anybody figured out our destination that way, they wouldn't have had enough time to get to Our planet and leave before we arrived, unless they had some way to avoid the usual jump limitations." 23:16 < Ziggy> "We purchased them just before leaving, but we were looking them up for two weeks." 23:17 < Arthur> "My contact on Tobia is quite sound. They're the same one who saved our asses when we got to Tobia the first time." 23:17 -!- Alien Alien@Nightstar-j8bkh4.access.telenet.be has quit [NS Quit: ] 23:18 < Arthur> "Let's continue our route to Glisten. We'll see if we can get traffic info from Our planet there. If not, we'll send for it and have it waiting for us when we get back from Darrian space." 23:18 < Ziggy> "The plan was relatively low-cost, it's possible they cast a wide net, anyway, after Berg." 23:18 < Ziggy> "Very well." 23:19 < Nev> "sounds good!" 23:19 < Arthur> "We'll also look for reports of spambot attacks similar to what hit us from other worlds, just in case Ziggy is right about casting a wide net." 23:20 < Ziggy> "If they were waiting for us, they never would have deployed the boxes until they heard our ship was inbound, but it's worth knowing that anyway." 23:21 < Ziggy> "At least on the jump out we can stay behind the gas giant the whole way." 23:21 < Nev> "or they did cast a wide net and we wern't the target but set off one the traps by accident when they were targeting someone else?" 23:21 < Arthur> "Indeed we can. Nev, can you plot us a course for that?" 23:21 < Arthur> "And see if they have spare fuel or if we need to skim it from the giant ourselves?" 23:22 * Nev will see if we can purchase fuel 23:23 < abudhabi> Nev: 1000 Cr/ton. 23:24 < Nev> ((refined?)) 23:24 < abudhabi> (Yes.) 23:24 < Nev> ((cool, 60 tons again from a jump 4 if i remember correctly?) 23:25 * Nev will purchase fuel and plot a course out sheltering us from radiation using the gas giant 23:25 < Arthur> ((Yes, 60 dtons)) 23:25 < Nev> ((done - what roll do you want for piloting if any?)) 23:25 < Ziggy> (Wouldn't that be for a 150 ton ship?) 23:26 < Arthur> (We did a Jump 3 into this system, so we still have fuel. 60 dtons puts us at 88 dtons aboard) 23:26 < Ziggy> (Ohhh.) 23:27 < abudhabi> Alright. Make a DexPilot check, Nev. 23:27 < Nev> !2d6+2+2 : Flying away 23:27 < PainBot> Nev rolled "Flying away": (3+3)+2+2. Total: 10. 23:27 < abudhabi> !roll 1d6-2 23:27 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6-2": (2)-2. Total: 0. 23:28 < abudhabi> Having more control over your departure, you manage to leave the 100 diameter limit in a day without exposing the ship to solar-flare-equivalents. 23:28 < Arthur> !2d6+3: Astrogate well in advance 23:28 < PainBot> Arthur rolled "Astrogate well in advance": (3+2)+3. Total: 8. 23:30 < abudhabi> What's Ishmael's bonus to jump? 23:30 < Arthur> (*prods Ishmael to jump) 23:31 < Arthur> (+3 I think) 23:31 < Ziggy> +3, I think? Edu 12 or so and Engineer J-Drive 1. 23:31 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6+3: Divert power 23:31 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "Divert power": (3+2)+3. Total: 8. 23:31 < abudhabi> !roll 2d6 23:31 < PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6": (5+2). Total: 7. 23:31 < abudhabi> You're off! 23:31 < abudhabi> We'll continue next week.